Gen. Wes Clark causes hissy fits
Dang, I hate it when a candidate's military service is picked on...from either party. I do not approve of bashing veterans, period. I think that for Democrats to go down that road puts us in the same league as the 1st Infantry Regiment of Sliming Keyboarders.
But, really now...Clark simply pointed out that McCain's military service does not inherently qualify him for the role of President...that service as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces is only one of the roles of a President.
And if a candidate's military service is so important to the presidency, why didn't the Republican Party show more respect for John McCain's service in 2000? Why didn't the party speak up when McCain's family was being smeared by another Republican?
And if we can never, ever question anyone's military service, why was it OK for a bunch of slimers to smear John Kerry four years ago?
No one is really smearing John McCain...no one is claiming he wasn't shot down or that he didn't serve honorably. BTW, I guess people have forgotten what happened a few months ago when Righties were spreading around that McCain broke down under torture, blah blah blah. I saw that with my own eyes and was amazed that they were smearing their top candidate.
I recognize and appreciate McCain's military service to his country -- I'm reminded of his sacrifice every time I see the restricted movement of his poor arms -- but I don't think we owe him the Presidency as payback.
Yes, his military service is unquestionable. But I *can* question his Congressional career. Just to name two things -- the questions about certain favors given to campaign donors is certainly not a good example of "putting country first"...and what about the many, many other wounded veterans who served in Iraq, who he didn't want to give a break to with the new GI bill, saying it was "too expensive."
I'm not too happy that the Obama campaign threw Clark under the bus...but another military man came to Clark's defense, Lt. General Robert G. Gard Jr. (USA, Ret.):
"[..]We must end this glib obeisance to sacrifice and ask deeper questions: is a man who sings "bomb, bomb, bomb ... bomb, bomb Iran" a man who understands risks? Is a man who says that we must keep our troops in Iraq until we achieve an ill-defined "victory" really know how to gauge America's opponents....[..]"
That says it for me.
